Apparatus for separating pith and fiber of cornstalks.



No. 657,34l. Patented Sept. 4, I900.

s; OVER. 7 APPARATUS FOR SEPARATING PITH AND FIBER 0F CURNSTALKS. (Application filed Aug. 1, 1898.)

(No Model.) 2 Shae'ts-Sheat I.

No. 657,34L' Patented Sept. 4, 1900.

s. oven.

APPARATUS FOR SEPABATING PITH AND FIBER OF COBNSTALKS. (Application'fliad Aug. 1, 1898.) (No Model 2 Sh eetsSheet 2.

NIT STATES PATENT ()FFICE.

SAMUEL DYER, OF MUN CIE, INDIANA, ASSIGNOR OF THREE-FIF'IHS TO RUSH E. EVANS, OF SAME PLACE;

, APPARATUS FOR SEPARATING PITH AND FIBER or coRN'sTALK.

sPEcI-FIcATIoN formingpart er Le'tters Patent No. 657,341,01eted September 4, 190o.

Application filed August 1,1898.

I all whom it may concern: Be it known that I, SAMUEL DYER, of Mun cie, in the county of Delaware and State of Indiana, have invented a certain new and use ful Improvement in Apparatus for Separatin g the Pith and'Fiber of Cornstalks, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to apparatus for Separating the pith and fiber of cornstalks or the like, and has for its object to provide a mechanism whereby the soft internal part or pith of the stalk may be separated from the hard fibrous outer shell in a rapid and efficient manner; and to this end the invention consists in certain features which I will now describe and will then particularly point out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents a side elevation of the machine embodying my invention; Fig. 2, afront elevation of the same; Fig. 3, a plan view with portions of the gearing omitted; Fig. 4, an enlarged detail view, in vertical section, of one of the separating-knives. Fig. 5 is a detail plan view of the same detached; Fig. 6,an' enlarged detail view in elevation of a modified form of one of the holders or guides detached; Fig. 7, a plan view of the same; Fig. 8, an elevation of a modified form of one of the plungers, and Fig. 9 a detail sectional view of the same.

In said drawings the machine is shown as mounted on an upright or supporting-frame 10, provided with a bracket or table 11, which supports the cutters or knives, of. which two are employed in the present instance, which are indicated at 12 and are located one on each side of the table, being mounted in tubular supports13, connected to saidtable by. means of brackets 14, as shown in Fig.1 of Q the drawings. Each knife is tubular in form, its upper portion being thin and elastic and being divided by a plurality of longitudinal slits 15 into a corresponding number of tongues 16. Each tongue is provided at its upper end with a V-shaped cutting edge 17. The body of the knife below this thin elastic upper portion is conical in form, as indicated at 18, increasing in diameter downward, and this portion of the body is provided with a' plurality of radial cutters 19, four being seen No. 687,413. (No model.)

shown in the present instance, although their number may be varied as desired. knives may be secured or connected to their The tubular supports 13 in any suitable manner, and in the present instance I have shown this connection as effected byproviding the lower portion of each knife with an externallythreaded extension 20, which screws into the correspondingly internally threaded upper end of the support, thus rendering the knife readily removable and replaceable.- Above the knives 12 there is mounted on the bracket or table 11 a revolving carrier 21, which in the form shownin Figs. 1,2, and 3 of the plurality of vertical tubular guides 23, the

openings of which. extend through the base 22.

These guides may be conveniently cast in one piece with the base 22 and with the central hub 24 of the carrier, to which they are joined by integral radial Webs 25, and in Figs. 1, 2, and 3 I have illustrated this construction. The carrier as a whole is mounted upon a vertical axis 26, arising from the Any desired number of tubular guides may be employed, according to the ditable 11.

mensions of the carrier, it being only requisite that they should be arranged in a circle at distances apart equal to the distance between the two knives 12. In the present instance I have shown eight of these guides.

Above the carrier 21 are located vertical plungers 27, corresponding in number with the knives 12, two being shown in the present instance. These plungers are located in the axial lines of the knives 12 and reciprocate vertically in those lines, being guided and supported by suitable guides 28, mounted a driving-pulley 33 or other suitable means of applying the power to said shaft. In order to impart an intermittentrotary Idrawings comprises a circular base 22, pro- 'vided with gear-teeth on its periphery and a flattened hub 39, which is adapted to bear upon the annulus 36. At its lower'end the shaft 37 is provided with a pinion 4.0, which meshes with the gear-teeth of the base-plate. 22 of the carrier. v

The apparatus thus constructed operatesi in the following manner: The cornstalks to be operated upon are cut into lengths of sufli- I; cient size to permit them to be inserted into; the tubular guides of the carrier 21, Where@ they are supported by'the top of thetable I1, over'which the carrier'travels. This table is provided at points immediately above the knives 12 with apertures 41 to permit the stalks to pass from the carriers to said knives. The various guides or chambers of the car-i rier having been supplied with sections of stalk, one for each guide, the apparatus is! placed in motion and the plungers 2 7 'de-i -scend and pass intoand through thegu'idesi 23, which "lie underneath them and above the} knives. The two sections of stalk in thesei guides are thereby forced downward through the apertures 41 onto the tubular knives 1211; The cutting edges 17 at the upper ends or; these knives enterthe'stalk at points imme- .1 diately between the pith and the shell, and as the stalk is forced downward these cutting;

- edges separate thepith from the shell, their:

elasticitybeing sufficient to permit them to follow the dividing-line and to .be deflected I inwardly by contact with the hard surfacesi of the shell, so as "to properly separate the shell and pith at their junction. The pith: passes downward through :the tubular 'interior of theknives, while the'shell passesdownward outside of the knives and encounteringthe radial cutters 19 is split longitudinally.

I into a number of sections. This splitting? connected at one end to each of the tubular;

action is further aided by the conical body; 18 of the knife, which forces the sections out-l ward awayfrom each other and causes them; toipass outside of the tubular supports 13.; The pith passes through the interior of these; tubular supports and may bewithdrawn or; collected separately from the split shell by, any suitable means. '-In Fig. 1 of the draw- 1; ings I have shown for this purpose a tube42 supports 13, these tubes beingconnectedat,

their otherends to any suitable means forf ezihaustingt'he air, so as to draw the .pith by suction to a'su'itablepoint of discharge. During this motion of the .plungers and while they arein engagement with the carrier the of paper.

of the stalks operated upon.

flattened hub 39 of the pinion 38fis" coii tact with the annulus 36 of the gear-wheel 34 and the carrier is consequently held stationary. Upon the upward movement of the plu'ngers' as soon as the same have passed clear of the carrier the pinion 38, engages thegear-s'egment 35, and asthe cutaway portion of the annulus is opposite the hub of the pinion at this time rotary motion is imparted to the shaft 37. and to the'carrier,

which is "advanced a 'suificient distance to.

bring the next two chambers or guides above the knives l2, whereupon the carriers motion "i-s=arre's'ted',a-nd it is locked in position. The plungers then againenter the carrier, and the stalk-sections contained in the two chambers 1 exposed to their action are operated upon as before-described. Ibis-understood, ofcourse,

that the guides or chambers of the carrier will be fed, either automatically or by hand,

with fresh stalk-sections as fast as 'theircontents are discharged by 'the plunger.

It will be seen that by means of the apparatus above described the pit-h orsoft portion of the cornstalks maybe quickly and 'thor-' ough'l-y separated from the outer fibrous shell or hard portion thereof, and the stalks may thus be put-into condition for the employment of their separate constituent parts to such end as they may be adapted. For instance, the ,pi'th may be made into cellulose, while the fiber is well adapted for the manufacture be varied without departing from the principle of my invention. For instance, although 'I have shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3 acarrier in The machine may, however, be employed to operate upon material other than cornstalks, and its details of construction may which the tubular guides. orchambersare -cast in one piece with the remaining portions of the carrier, I may construct these guides or chambers separately inorder that they may be removable, so as to enable meQto *changethem and'supply chambersor guides of diameter corresponding to the diameters l Such ,a conistruction Ihave shownin Figs." 6 and 7 of the =drawings, in which the guide or chamber has a tubular body 43,, threaded at its lower-end, as shown at 44,*toadapt it to screw intoa correspan dingithreaded aperture in the base-plate $22., a-collar 45being provided to rest uponsaidjbasezplate and more firmly support the'guide. :In these figures I have also shown theg-guide asprovided with internal spring guide-fingers 46 at least three in number and extending Ein'tothe interior of the guide throughslots 47 inTthebod-y thereof. These elasticor'yieldiing guide-fingers serve the purpose of properly centering relatively tofthe cutter acorn- 'ist'alkIof smaller diameterthan the interior of lthe guidelitself. I have also shown in Figs.

8 and'9 me'ansfor imparting to the plungers i2 7a rotary as well as a reciprocating motion in order to similarly rotate the stalk-sections, fand'thus assist the operation ofthe knives. In this construction the plunger is shown as strait provided with a spiral groove 48, and there is mounted in one of the guides a fixed pin or roller 49, which extends into said groove and thereby imparts to the plunger a rotary motion during its reciprocation. In this case the pitman 32 is connected to the collar 50, which is mounted loosely on the plunger 27, so as to permit this latter to rotate therein, While longitudinal movement along with the collar is obtained by means of two fixed collars 51, secured to the plunger 27 on opposite sides of the collar 50. If desired, antifriction-balls 52 may be interposed between the collars 50 and 51. With this construction I may, if desired, provide the plunger upon its lower or operating face with teeth or projections 53 to engage the stalks. It is of course obvious that the number ofknives and plungers may be varied, as desired, and other features of construction similarly modified, and I therefore do not wish to be understood as limiting myself to the precise details of construction hereinbefore set forth and shown in the drawings.

I claim- 1. An apparatus of the character described, comprising a vertically arranged tubular knife or cutter adapted to operate between the pith and shell of a cornstalk, a carrier intermittently rotating around a vertical axis and having a plurality of tubular guidingchambers which successively present the stalk-sections to the knives or cutters, and a vertically reciprocating plunger for positively and successively forcing the stalk-sections from said chambers against the knife or cutter while the carrier is stationary, substantially as described. p i

2. An apparatus of the character described, comprising a vertically arranged tubular knife or cutter adapted to operate between the pith and shell of a cornstalk, a horizontal table having an aperture registering with said k nife, a carrier intermittently rotatingaround a vertical axis above said table and havinga plurality of tubular guiding-chambers which successively register with said aperture, and a vertically-reciprocating plunger for posi tively and successively forcing the stalk-sec tions from said chambers through the said aperture against the knife or cutter while the carrier is stationary, substantially as de-' scribed.

3. An apparatus of the character described,- comprising a vertically arranged tubular knife or cutter adapted to operate between the pith and shell of a cornstalk and to split the shell, a carrier intermittently rotating around a vertical axis and having a plurality of tubular guiding-chambers which successively present the stalk-sections to the knives or cutters, a vertically-reciprocating plunger for positively and successively forcing the stalk-sections from said chambers against the knife or cutter while the carrier is stationary, and a tube connected with the lower end of the tubular knife or cutter, whereby the pith is delivered into said tube and the split shell separately discharged from the machine by gravity, substantially as described.

4. An apparatus of the character described, comprising a plurality of vertically-arranged tubular knives or cutters adapted to operate between the pith and shell of a cornstalk, a carrier intermittently rotating around a vertical axis and having a plurality of tubular guiding-chambers which successively present the stalk-sections to said knives or cutters, and a plurality of vertically-reciprocating plungers corresponding in number to the knives or cutters and adapted to positively and successively force the stalk sections against the knives or cutters while the carrier is stationary, substantially as described.

SAMUEL DYER.

Witnesses:

FRED MGOLELLAN, WALTER J. LOTZ. 

